


Your Truth

by IJM



Category: General Hospital (TV 1963)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:19:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26034070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IJM/pseuds/IJM
Summary: Not for Ava Haters
Relationships: Franco and Elizabeth Baldwin, Nikolas and Ava Cassadine
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Your Truth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sierra Jerome](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Sierra+Jerome).



> Not for Ava Haters

“You need to leave,” Franco Baldwin told his friend Ava Jerome. “This relationship is toxic. You deserve better.” He tried, but failed, to keep his voice low because Ava was visiting him in the art therapy room.

“There’s too much at stake,” Ava countered. She grabbed a crayon and started doodling on a sheet of paper, trying to avoid her friend’s concerned eyes.

“Money, I get it. What about your self-worth? That man is tearing you down bit by bit, chipping away at your self-esteem.”

Ava laughed. “I don’t think anyone in this town would assume I have a self-esteem problem.” Franco hit a bit too close to home. She pretended she was far more confident than she actually was.

“No one else in this town knows you the way I do.”

“Please elaborate, oh wise one.” She tossed her crayon aside and chose another one.

“You’re punishing yourself for Kiki. But you can’t flog yourself enough, so you’re letting Nik do it for you. He’s cruel to you and you take it. Why, Ava? You’re not stuck in this marriage. There’s nothing Nikolas Cassadine has that you need.” Ava started to say something, but he cut her off. “Don’t even say anything to me about money. You were substantially well off before you married him. I get you want to punish him for the way he convinced you that Kiki was in hell and suffering because of you, but you’re only punishing yourself. Kiki wouldn’t want this life for you.”

“I told you. I’m all alone. I need human contact.”

“So, sign up for Tinder or Farmers Only. Or give Pops a call. You won’t have trouble finding a man. One that doesn’t treat you the way the Prince does.”

She glared at him when he suggested calling his father. “I don’t know why you’re so concerned,” Ava scoffed. “It’s not like he’s raised a hand to me.”

“How long until he does? Or how long until he poisons your soup? Would you put it past him to try to kill you to hang onto his fortune? He made Elizabeth’s sister flee the country and leave her daughter behind. He doesn’t care about you or Avery.”

“I think you should mind your own business.” She flung her crayon back into the pile and took a green one.

“Like hell I will,” Franco said angrily. “You are not trapped. You’re not powerless. You have a home and money and an independent streak. Seeing you tied in knots over a man or over a money—I’m not sure which is the real reason anymore—makes me sick. You don’t have to take this abuse.”

Ava sighed. “Franco, I think you’re taking this personally and blowing it out of proportion. _Abuse_ is a bit of an overstatement.”

“Is it?” he asked defiantly. “I’ve heard him speak to you and say things that made you crumble. What does he say to you in private?” He paused, waiting for an answer that never came.

“Yes, I take it personally,” Franco continued. “My Elizabeth is friends with this man, and she doesn’t see his cruelty, his hatefulness, or his manipulative schemes. I can’t stand the thought of him treating her _or any other woman_ the way he treats you or the way he treated Hayden. And I can’t stand seeing him treat _you_ that way either. You. Deserve. Better.”

Ava reached for her face to wipe away a teardrop that betrayed how much Franco’s impassioned words had moved her. “No one has ever thought I deserved better.”

“Ava, what I think isn’t even important. I want _you_ to believe you deserve better.”

Ava suddenly crushed Franco with a hug across the table. “Why do you care? I was awful to you.”

He patted her back. “Who am I to judge someone for being awful in the past?”

“You have a point,” Ava laughed, pulling away from him.

“Ava, it takes a while to believe that you deserve better. I thank God every day that Elizabeth saw something worthwhile in me. It’s taken a long time for me to start to believe that what she sees is there. And it’s a struggle because it’s really easy to get caught up in negative thoughts about why you aren’t deserving of love or kindness.”

Ava nodded. She had those pesky negative intrusions every time she was alone with her thoughts.

“A-hem,” Elizabeth fake cleared her throat, standing in the doorway. She sheepishly asked, “Can I ask what you’re talking about? What has Nikolas done to you?” There was only timid curiosity in her voice with no hint of accusations.

Ava sucked in her breath, afraid that Elizabeth would be angry that she was turning to her husband for support once again. “Um… I don’t really want to talk about it,” she answered. She was overwhelmed with shame when she thought about putting things into words to share with someone who thought Nikolas was so princely.

Elizabeth wasn’t angry. She heard the shame in Ava’s voice.

“I’ve got to go,” Ava said, quickly standing up and making her exit. “Thank you,” she turned back to Franco for just a moment. “Thanks for caring.”

Elizabeth watched Ava leave and she took the chair that Ava had abandoned. “Want to tell me what that was about?” she asked Franco.

Franco picked up the picture that Ava has scribbled. “What do you think?” he asked, handing the paper to his wife.

Elizabeth chuckled. Franco was an art therapist even when he wasn’t trying. “She drew an angry monster,” Elizabeth told him.

“While we were talking about how Nikolas treats her,” Franco added. “What do you think that means?”

Elizabeth bristled. “I don’t think I want to know.” She studied the picture. “This is how Ava sees Nikolas?” she asked.

Franco shrugged. Ava wasn’t his patient, but he was careful not to analyze her to his wife anyway.

“I just find it hard to believe this is Nikolas.” She wasn’t being argumentative. That wasn’t the Nikolas she knew.

“Really?” Franco asked. He didn’t want to push Elizabeth towards any conclusions. She had to get there herself.

“Look, I was eavesdropping earlier,” she admitted. “It sounded like you’ve had a front row seat to some of these cruel things that you say Nikolas has done. Do you really think he would hurt Ava?”

“I don’t know of anything that would stop him if it was to his benefit. Think of what he did to Violet, an innocent child who hasn’t had her mother in her life for almost a year. Does that sound like the Nik who was your friend?”

Elizabeth inhaled sharply and looked away from Franco. “It’s a lot to process,” she admitted.

“I understand,” Franco took her hand. “Just go with what your heart tells you Elizabeth. You know the man better than I do.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I need to get back to my shift,” she said. She squeezed Franco’s hand and kissed his forehead.

Elizabeth left the art room and leaned against the wall, thinking about everything she had heard and seen. She thought of Nik, the years she had known him. She thought of the love she felt for him as a friend, then a lover, then a friend again. She thought of the things she had forgiven and the times she had looked the other way.

Elizabeth bit her lip and nodded. She knew the truth. 


End file.
